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Water

15 January, 2016 - 09:18

International trade could scarcely be conducted without cargo shipping. Cargo ships transport “loose” cargo such as grain, coal, ore, petroleum, and other mined products. But they also transport consumer products—everything from televisions to toys. Consumer goods are often shipped in intermodal containers. Intermodal containersare metal boxes. The largest containers are fifty-three feet long and one hundred inches tall. The biggest cargo ships are huge and carry as many 15,000 containers. By contrast, the maximum a train can carry is around 250 containers stacked on top of each other. Figure 9.12 shows a picture of a cargo ship carrying intermodal containers.(Image missing in original source The good news about shipping via waterway is that inexpensive. The bad news is that it’s very slow. In addition, many markets aren’t accessible by water, so another method of transportation has to be utilized